Protothea Review

The PC shooter is resurrected because...well, we're not sure.

WiiWare is becoming a home for non-traditional shooters. Two weeks ago we got the all-time-trial Star Soldier R and now we have Protothea, which uses the Wii Remote's infrared aiming ability to target your enemies. It was originally released a few years ago as a PC game. Ubisoft's decision to resurrect it and bring it to WiiWare is a little, erm, random, because Protothea wasn't a terribly exciting shooter to begin with. The infrared control scheme that has been implemented is interesting, but the gameplay is pretty dull.

The controls definitely take some getting used to. Pilots navigate with the Nunchuk's analog stick, use the Remote to aim, and shoot with the A button. This provides the ability to fire in 360 degrees, Geometry Wars-style, but replaces the second analog stick with the Remote. While this scheme doesn't allow for the quick navigation shooter fans might be used to, Protothea also isn't as fast-paced as other games. The action unfolds more slowly and there are fewer enemies and bullets on screen to deal with. This isn't to say that the game is easy -- some of these levels are quite challenging. The developers actually scaled back the difficulty from the PC version because of the control scheme.

Each level provides the player with a new weapon, but most of them aren't that impressive. Finally, around level six, you'll receive some kick ass homing missiles. You switch weapons with the D-pad, which means you have to take your thumb off the trigger to change out. Pilots can drop bombs on enemies below but later levels don't feature any ground units -- rendering your bombs useless. Why would developers give the player a tool but refuse them anything to use it on?

The ship also comes with the ability to slow time but it only lasts a few seconds and never proves very useful. Making it even less effective, initiating the time warp is an on/off switch, meaning you can't use it in quick bursts to conserve power.

With a few exceptions, Protothea is a pretty generic-looking game. The beginning stage takes place over some nice water and level four is set above an impressive sky city with bumper-to-bumper flying car traffic. But the game lacks the flashy effects we expect from a modern shooter. It would be great if more things on the ground were interactive. For instance, if tanks were streaming out of a bunker and the player could destroy the building before too many got out, that would provide a slightly different game mechanic to break up the monotony. But again, the ability to attack ground units is largely wasted here.

At times it is difficult to tell what objects can be flown over and what can't. On more than one occasion I made it all the way to a boss fight only to collide with a building that looked just like all the others I'd been flying over throughout the level. And dieing means starting the level over again -- Protothea offers no mid-level checkpoints.

Overall, the game lacks polish. When you defeat a boss the game immediately cuts to the next level without any fanfare. After the ridiculously easy final boss is destroyed, the end credits roll in silence.

Actually, that might be a merciful silence. The music throughout the game is really terrible, sounding like something made in a bedroom with rudimentary music software. It's an eye-rolling blend of cheesy metal and techno. The sound effects also lack punch. All of the gunshots are muffled and the time warp sound effect is barely audible.

There are eight levels in Normal Mode, which I completed in just under three hours. Beating Normal will unlock Hard Mode, providing an extra couple levels to the player. This is a respectable length for a shooter, but Protothea doesn't keep score so score whores won't find a lot of replay value once it's beaten.

The Verdict

Protothea is a totally hardcore shooter that, while challenging, just isn't very interesting. The one unique aspect is its control scheme, but I can't say it's an improvement over two analog sticks. The game doesn't look that great, doesn't sound that great, and doesn't offer much creativity. If you consider yourself a hardcore shooter fan you might want to take a look, if only to check out the IR controls. But there are much better shooters on the Wii.